Covent Garden

Michelin-starred restaurant: Siobhan Yap, 27, spent more than £700 on a meal for two at L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Covent Garden (Picture: Google StreetView)

A saleswoman who was offered a free meal by a car dealership that damaged her vehicle has defended running up a £714 bill at a Michelin-starred restaurant, saying it was a “once in a lifetime” occasion.

London landlord Capital & Counties’ overhaul of Covent Garden took another step forward today as it gained permission for a new public courtyard and the transformation of Floral Street’s listed Carriage Hall building.

Vicky Pryce was nominated for best business book for Greekonomics at yesterday’s Spear’s Book Awards. But she lost out to Anat Admati and Martin Hellwig for their book, The Bankers’ New Clothes: What’s Wrong With Banking and What to Do About It. Admati is a professor at Stanford, and Hellwig a German academic.